Manually-controlled quick-make and quick-break knife switch



Man. 27, E923. 3,449,543

HI. G. PAPE MANUALLY CONTROLLED QUICK MAKE AND QUICK BREAK KNIFE S WITCH Filed-Nov. 50, 1918 2 sheets-sheet l Mar. 2'7, 1923. 1,449,543 H. G. PAPE MANUALLY CONTROLLED QUICK MAKE AND QUICK BREAK KNIFE SWITC H Filed Nov. 50, 1918 2 sheets-sheet 2.

Patented l t/liar. 27, llQZB.

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HERMAN G. FATE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, JBY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, T

BEAVER MACHINE AND TOOL 00., INC., 015 NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A. CORPORA- TION or new JERSEY.

MANUALLY-CONTROLLED QUICK-MAKE AND QUICK-BREAK KNIFE SWITCH.

Application filed November 30, 1918. Serial No. 264,792.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN G. PAPE, of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Manually-Controlled Quick-Make and Quick- Break Knife Switch, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the class of electric switches known as knife switches, this class being distinctive in electrical installation and so recognized in catalogues and among electrical manufacturers to distinguish them from flush or snap switches.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a manually controlled knife switch which has a quick make in addition to having a quick break. The prior art discloses knife switches having quick make and quick break but these are what are known as remote control switches and are in an entirely different class from manually controlled switches of which I disclose one form. One great advantage of having a quick make as well as a quick break is to prevent arcing and sparking, especially when very heavy current is used and this advantage is not only generally very important, but is particularly important in marine work where the operator may be operating a heavy knife switch and a lurch of the boat would throw him while operating the handle causing the blade to go only partially to the contact, causing very often an arc sufiiciently large to set fire to the boat and this is prevented by my invention.

Que feature of the-invention is that it is a manually controlled knife switch having a quick make as well as a quick break.

Another feature is that the knife blade 4 makes contact beyond the control of the bandle and also breaks contact beyond control of the handle.

Another feature is a cross-bar carrying a plurality of knife blades and another cross- 4 bar carrying the handle, the former being controlled by the latter but operating independently thereof, preferably through a spring to give a quick make and also a quick break.

Another feature of my invention is the provision of means to stop the blade or blades at a predetermined position in either one or both direct-ions and in the preferred form I provide a spring bufier for this purpose.

Various other features will be pointed out below.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan of a knife switch embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is an end elevation thereof Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure 1 but with the movable parts in reverse position;

Figure 4 illustrates a modification described below; and

Figure 5 is a sectional detail on line 5 of Figure 1.

.The base A is made of slate or other suitable material and to it are connected brackets A. and A by screws such as shown. Pivotally connected to these brackets by screws a and a are arms B and B which have lugs b and b connected'by screws b to insulating cross-bar D to which is connected handle E, arms B and B and bar D forming a yoke.

Lead wires are connected to bindin screw F and F, the latter being connecte to conducting plates f and f. Each of these plates is held to the base by screws the latter holding also yoke g and spring buffer g' hereinafter described. The arms of yoke g extend upwardly and receive between them the knife blades 9 said arms being perforated to receive tubular rivets g between whose blades and the arms of yoke g I interpose washers g, said rivets forming the pivots of the knife blades and being in line with the pivots a a ,of the handle yoke, thus forming an extremely compact construction.

I show two knife blades although I might use, for some purposes, one or any desired number. The knife blades are rigidly held to a cross-bar which comprises two insulating portions h and it held together by screws 7L adjacent to each blade. To the ends of the cross-bar it it are attached metal arms k and it each extending beneath portion 10 it and there held by one of the screws 71 and also extending above portion h. and being perforated to receive one end of the spring hereinafter described.

Arm B is perforated to receive one hooked end of spring J, which is coiled and turns bodily about the axis of the 'coil the other hooked end engaging the perforation in arm it, arm B having a large aperture B to permit movement of that end of the spring which engages arm h. Similarly I provide spring J at the other end of the device to connect arm B with arm ha.

The knife blades make contact with spring clips K held to the base by screws and suitably connected to binding screws K and K The buffers g are made of sheet metal and bent to the form shown to provide yielding stops, end g limiting the movement of the cross-bar h h yieldingly in one direction and end 9 limiting the movement yieldingly in the other direction.

I also provide stops for the handle member consisting of bent lugs 01 on brackets A and A to limit the movement of the handle member in one direction and bent lugs 11, also on said brackets to limit movement in the other direction.

The handle member controls the operation of the switch and when the handle is swung to the right from the position of Figure 2 it carries its end of spring J to the line extending from pivot a through the point of connection of the spring with arm h, compressing the spring during this movement and rotating it bodily about the axis of its coil. When the end of the spring which is connected to arm B passes said line, the spring is freeto act, and does act, to move the cross-bar and the knife blades with a very quick breaking movement into the position shown in Figure 3, the handle move ment being limited by stop a and the blade movement by end 9 of the buffer 9'.

The reverse movement, that is, from the position of Figure 3 to the position of Figure 2 will give a very quick make of the circuit and in both of these movements it will be clear that the knife blades operate independently of the handle and that the spring not only acts to make quickly and break quickly but also exerts its stress in the positions of rest to hold the part-s at rest, that is, it acts to keep the knife blades in their closed position or in their open position as the case may be, thus preventing accidental closing and accidental opening.

In Figure 4 I show another form in which the rod M is pivotally connected to arm h, the other end of the rod M being pivotally and slidably connected .to handle arm M. Spring M is coiled around rod M and between abutment M on member h. and abutment M on arm M and when arm M is swung to the right the spring is compressed and when abut-ment M passes the line described above in connection with the other form a quick break is had and with the reverse movement a quick make is had.

Among the many structural advantages of my invention I may point out that I pro vide a coincident pivot for both moving members and I provide a handle yoke embracing the knife blade member, both of which features are highly important from the standpoint of compactness; that I provide two insulations between the handle and the contact clips, these being the crossbars shown; and that the blade anember is pivoted to the base.

What I claim is:

1. A knife switch comprising an insulating cross-bar carrying a handle; and a second insulating cross-bar carrying one or more knife blades, the second cross-bar being controlled by the first but operating independently thereof with a quick make and a quick break.

2. A knife switch comprising a handle; a blade controlled by the handle but operating independently thereof with a quick make and a quick break; and a spring buffer made in a single piece and acting to yieldingly limit the movement of the blade in both directions.

3. A knife switch comprising a handle; a blade; and a bow spring having one end pivotally connected to the blade and the other end connected to the handle, movement of the handle from either of its positions of rest bringing said ends nearer together and put ting said spring under compression, said spring, at a predetermined point in the movement of the handle, expanding and twisting bodily to operate the blade independently of the handle to cause the blade to have a quick snap action both in making and in breaking the circuit.

HERMAN G. PAPE.

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